Retribution
by XxLostGirlXx
Summary: Two years have passed since that fateful night on the mountain. After the defeat Clarke made a promise to herself, she would seek vengeance on the Commander no matter how long it takes. But will she be able to go through with it when Lexa complicates matters by revealing all.


Retribution

Clarke all but glides effortlessly towards the woman standing before her, the figure of the person she approaches is one of great knowledge and power, a profile of pureness and yet at the very same time menacing to the touch.

The woman who stands near the cliff edge with her back to Clarke bows her head slightly, her hand moving away from the hilt of the sword that has taken many a life. Clarke knows she is aware of her presence. After all they are one and the same, cut from the same cloth her grandmother would have said if she were still alive. Since the moment they met they have been able to sense one another before their eyes actually meet.

"Commander," Clarke speaks as she comes to a standstill behind the warrior.

"Clarke," Lexa whispers shakily "I have wondered when this time would come for many a moon"

"You know why I am here," Clarke states rather than asking "you will not try and stop me?"

"There are many things I have prevented you from doing Clarke of the Sky People, this will not be one of them"

"You are unguarded," Clarke observes as her eyes scan the area "no trail to suggest you came her with another either," she adds, and the unspoken question in her words hangs in the crispness of the morning air.

"I am alone," Lexa confirms with a small nod of her head. Clarke looks around the picturesque backdrop to their final meeting place. The tree lines dark and imposing presence confirms Lexa's words. She is alone, there are no Grounders waiting, ready to strike the moment Clarke makes her move.

"Did you know I would be here?"

"Clarke," the way in which Lexa whispers her name so softly making her heart clench painfully. She can feel the older woman's anguish rolling off her tight shouldered form in waves "I have been standing here waiting for you each morning since the night we parted ways"

"Why did you do it Lexa? I would have followed you to the ends of the earth if you had asked," Clarke whimpers feebly despite herself. She tries and fails to wipe away the tears now slowly making their way down her pale cheeks.

"My decision that night was one for my people. I could not think of myself in that moment, but please know that I wanted nothing more than to stand by you and fight to the bitter end" Lexa explains calmly, Clarke sensing that she had probably practiced the carefully worded speech many a time in her head.

"I do understand why you did it and I admit that in the beginning I was furious, and to be honest a small part of me still is. But I was not angry because you didn't stand and fight beside us, I was angry because you left _me_ Lexa"

"I know Clarke, and I also know that night I betrayed in the worse possible way. For that I will take my punishment without trial or resistance. My life is in your hands, just like it has been since the moment you walked into it"

"It's been two years," Clarke says, a deep routed question underlying her words.

"And each day without you is as painful as the moment I left you on that mountain. I lost you that night," she chokes out before she can catch herself.

"You don't know what you lost," Clarke counters bitterly.

"I do"

"Really?" Clarke challenges, her shoulders squared and ready to rip into the broken woman in front of her, but before she able to hiss the hurtful words Lexa speaks once more.

"I hurt more than you will ever know Clarke. Not seeing your face every morning when I walk out of my quarters. The absence of your laughter at my table as we feast. The warmth of your lips pressed upon mine, and the feel of eyes searching deep within my soul. Those things are just but a fraction of what I lost that night"

"Lexa," Clarke cuts in with a sob before moving to stand beside the woman. She does not turn to look upon the face she has yearned to see for years for fear of what it will make her do. Instead she decides to gaze out at the breathtaking view before her.

They both stand there for a moment, the somewhat comfortable silence that envelopes them only being disturbed by the tranquil sound of waves crashing against the rocks beneath them. And as the sun rises further in the cloudless sky it begins to cast a beautiful orange glow across the vast blue water.

"I love the sea," Lexa murmurs after a short while "when I was a child my mother would bring me here and we would sit right where we are standing now. She'd tell me stories about the enormous ships that used to sail the treacherous waters, and tails of the frightening monsters that lurked beneath before the bombs hit"

"She sounds like a nice woman," Clarke says, catching the slight nod of Lexa's head in return.

"She liked the sea, but more than that she loved to speak of the sky. We would spend many an hour lying on our backs, gazing up at the endlessness of it. She would often speak of the people who lived in the sky, how they were waiting to be brought home, and how she hoped she would be alive to see the day the _Skaikru_ were welcomed back to earth"

"I am sorry she didn't get that chance," Clarke whispers earnestly when Lexa takes a moment to steady herself.

"I spent years looking up and never truly knowing why, in the beginning I passed it off as my mothers interest peaking mine. But two years ago I finally came to understand the reasoning behind it. All I was really doing was waiting for you Clarke, waiting for you to literally come crashing into my life"

"Why are you telling me these things?" Clarkes asks in bewilderment, and Lexa's sudden laughter wavers slightly as the nervousness she has never seen before starts to make itself known.

"You do not really know anything about the person that I am, all you see when you look at me is the Commander of my people. You also are not aware of the feelings I harbour towards you, and you have a right to know these things Clarke. But I guess deep down I am hoping that you will change your mind and sheath the dagger you are about to plunge into my heart" Lexa's explains as she finally turns to face her, and Clarke knows that it is taking every ounce of her willpower to keep her emotions in check.

"What happened to no resistance?" Clarke asks, confirming Lexa's words with the statement. After all this is the reason that she came here, to carry out the promise she had made herself two years ago.

"I lied"

"You are good at that," Clarke sighs as she meets the woman's gaze head on.

"We could be happy Clarke, it doesn't have to be this way"

"I think we both know that this was the only way it would ever truly end"

"Does it really have to though," Lexa breathes into the space between them, her words sounding more desperate with each passing second "we could both walk back into those trees and leave the past right here on this cliff"

Clarke stands there for a moment, Lexa's desperate plea going around in her mind. She has never seen the Commander this way before, but like Lexa said earlier, all she has ever known is the cold and calculated warrior, she has never known the woman beneath it all.

"It doesn't work that way Lexa, you betrayed me. How am I to know that you will not do so again?"

"I know I cannot make any reassurances that will convince you here and now, but Clarke I promise to show you for the rest of my life that I will never do such a thing again"

"I cannot take that risk," Clarke cries as her hand tightens around the blade on her hip.

"I understand," Lexa says before taking another deep calming breath "and I know I do not deserve anything from you, but may I ask one thing?" Lexa asks as her eyes begin to fill with unshed tears.

"Yes," Clarke chokes as she unsheathes the blade and raises it to Lexa's chest, positioning it right over her heart.

"I am the Commander of my people, I should not be so weak. But I am also the child that sat here with her mother and was allowed to show that weakness freely. So please, I am scared Clarke, will you tell me everything will be OK?" Lexa pleads whilst her hands move to wrap around Clarkes.

"Everything will be OK Lexa," she whispers softly.

"I once heard you speak of the place you believe your father now resides. What is it called?"

"We call it heaven"

"In the sky?"

"In the sky," Clarke confirms shakily, watching with tear filled eyes as Lexa glances up at the cloudless, blue abyss.

"I will wait for you Clarke," Lexa promises as Clarke begins press the blade into Lexa's soft flesh, the woman's hiss of pain reverberating across her very soul " _Hodnes Laik nowe Kwelnes"_

 **A/N – Had this idea stuck in my head for a while and thought I'd write it down. Hope you enjoyed it :)**

 _Hodnes Laik nowe Kwelnes - Love is never weakness._


End file.
